The picture across London looks bleak

If you factor in the number of public buildings which will be lost as a result of the cuts to our emergency services across the whole of Greater London, it swiftly becomes apparent that it is not only the demise of emergency services which will beset London (with more then 12 fire stations under threat of closure; 65 Police station front counters being down graded; and the loss of  8 A&E’s across London).  We are also set to lose a plethora of iconic buildings which have served to define an area for many years.

For example, in my own home borough of the City of Westminster, the affect of the cuts set against a backdrop of austerity feel even more acute once you consider plans by the local council and other public authorities to close down various building. Landmarks such as the old Marylebone Town Hall and Marylebone library have already been sold off to London Business School(LBS).  We are also set to lose the “one stop” shops at Church Street and Harrow Road; City hall; St James library and the Jubilee Sports Centre.  Westminster Adult Education Services are selling off their Amberley and EburyBridge site as well.  These losses are incidental to the emergency service closures illustrated in the diagram above which earmarks Westminster fire station, Greycoat Place,SW1 and 3 police stations including Harrow Road, Marylebone & St Johns Wood for closure.  The loss to the local community is much greater then first meets the eye.

Also, and though not shown on the map above, there are also plans to move services from The Western Eye Hospital to St Mary’s.  Like the other buildings mentioned, it is a historic landmark which means something to the local area and to see it lose its identity would be a great shame.  (In this instance, this may be a price worth paying if the move improves clinical outcomes for patients, but we’ll have to wait and see).  Let’s not forget also the “walk in” NHS clinic in Victoria.

Therefore, the forgotten victim of the Government’s austerity programme is the loss of a large number of public buildings in the urban landscape of London.  A proud legacy of the Victorian & Edwardian era which many look to for inspiration is being sold off.  Buildings which are familiar and reassuring to Londoners, defining a neighbourhood and a city are being lost forever to coffee shop and supermarket chains in where we’re being asked to spend even more our lives.  We have suffered the blight of recessions in the past, yet the solution did not include the wholesale selling off of the family silver.   For me, this smacks more of ideology, not austerity, as the loss of valuable iconic public buildings reflect upon attempts to roll back the influence of the state in our lives.  

At Marylebone Police station with Jack Gordon, wondering about impact of its lose for locals

The West End has always dragged attention and resources away from the more residential north of the borough.  Issues relating to the policing of the West End entertainment industry, diplomatic and public order policing are frequently put before the concerns of residents who live in the borough particularly those of us in the North. With the proposed closure of Police station front counters at Harrow Rd, St Johns Wood and Marylebone and reduced hours at Paddington Green, this trend will be even more acute if the Mayor’s proposals are implemented.

The situation is compounded even further with the lost of 247 police officers  between May 2010 and November 2012 and 267 PSCO/Police Support Community Officers and the effective end of safer neighbourhood policing model in the City and the rest of London.

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) are holding consultations on the proposals.  The one for the City of Westminster will take place on the 31st of January, so get yourself there and make your views known.  You can book by visiting this link.

Harrow Road Police Station will go under Boris’s plans, as well

The question and answer session comes at a time when the full extent of cuts to <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s emergency services has become clearer. In the past week the Mayor has confirmed which police and fire stations will be closed. A map outlining the extent of the cuts to emergency services across <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> has been compiled by Labour Group Leader Len Duvall AM.

The closures across the capital include: the loss of nine out of 32 A&E; cutting 12 fire stations, 18 fire engines and 560 fire-fighters; and the closure of 65 police front counters and stations.

The closures across <city w:st=”on”>Westminster</city> include: the loss <city w:st=”on”>Westminster</city>

</street> and Marylebone police station.

Labour <place w:st=”on”><city w:st=”on”>London</city></place> Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

"We already know that <city w:st=”on”>Westminster</city> has lost 267 police officers in the last two years, but the Mayor’s plan confirms that the majority of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s boroughs will have fewer police officers by 2015 than they did in 2010. All this is happening at a time when the London Fire Brigade and our Hospital Accident & Emergency Departments are also being cut back. This is further evidence that the Mayor and government are cutting too far, too fast and are hitting the frontline.”

Beijing this past weekend as it suffers smog

Over the weekend many parts of northern China experienced serous air pollution. PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometer in diameter) data in Beijing reached 470 to 490 on Saturday morning, which according to the Air Quality Index is the most polluted air quality. And heavy fog will continue to envelop a large swathe of East and Central China in several days.

China has made progress in combating environmental pollution, but apparently it still has a lot to do to improve its overall air quality.

The Better Air Quality 2012 conference, organized by Clean Air Asia in Hong Kong recently, was hopeful about the effectiveness of mitigating measures rather than people adapting to poor air quality. Soon after the conference, the Chinese government announced new air pollution reduction plan, which is aimed at cutting gas emissions and pollutants and reflects a change in emphasis.

China will cut the PM2.5 intensity by at least 5 percent by 2015 in 13 major areas covering 117 cities, according to a plan issued by the Ministry of Environment Protection. The levels of other pollutants such as PM10 and SO2 (sulfur dioxide) will be reduced by 10 percent while that of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) will be cut by 7 percent.

China has also vowed to release hourly air pollution data for 74 of its biggest cities from Jan 1 in response to the increasing environmental concern among its citizens. Of late, an increasing number of Chinese people have been complaining against pollution and murky gray skies in cities.

The monitoring will include not only PM2.5, but also SO2, NO2, ozone and carbon monoxide, and data will be collected from 496 monitoring stations.

Microscopic pollutant particles in the air caused the premature death of an estimated 8,600 people in 2012 and an economic loss of about $1 billion in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi’an, according to a study by Peking University which measured pollutant levels of PM2.5.

Urban residents have become more aware of the benefits of air quality data, which has prompted the Chinese authorities to issue hourly data on air pollution.

Many Chinese cities have removed smoke belching chimneys and coal-burning factories in recent years, but the increase in the number of cars has created new air quality problems. In this respect, electric vehicles (EVs) with their zero-tailpipe emission were seen as the panacea, offering much hope. But the slow progress in EVs’ development and affordability seems to have dashed that hope.

Let us look at the somewhat different experiences of London and Hong Kong. The London mayor, in his previous term, had hoped to put 100,000 electric vehicles on the road and to install 25,000 plug-in-points in the city. He even hoped that 1,000 of the Great London Assembly vehicles would be run on electricity. But only 1,500 electric vehicles have hit the roads, 900 plug-in-points have been set up and just 50-odd GLA vehicles are running on electricity.

Most of the 3,000 EVs in the United Kingdom are part of companies’ fleets and this trend is likely to continue in the immediate future. Though the UK’s network of charging points continues to expand – 400 more points are likely to be added in London – the price of new electric cars remains high despite the government’s 5,000 pounds subsidy for each vehicle.

But Hong Kong informed the BAQ2012 that many manufacturers had conducted EV trials, 373 EVs from different makers had been registered and more than 1,000 standard charging points set up, 500 of which were in government car parks. So it appears that with the concerted efforts of the government, power companies, property developers and car park operators, the EV charging infrastructure in Hong Kong is expanding progressively. That’s a positive sign.

On the Chinese mainland, the combined efforts of the government and the private sector are helping drive the global growth in environmental certification. Almost 82,000 Chinese companies have qualified for ISO14001, of which more than 12,200 did so in 2011 alone.

This is the highest growth rate in the world and can attribute to Chinese companies’ realization that the standard can help them reduce their environmental impact, as well as maintain their competitive advantage, cut costs, enhance their reputation and win new business.

In these times of global economic uncertainty, the continued increase in the number of Chinese companies with environmental certification proves that investing in environmental measures will help build a sustainable economic future.

So while critical global environmental issues like climate change have been effectively put on hold because UN member countries have not agreed on a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, attention has been diverted to more localized global environmental concerns like poor air quality in cities. This development can only improve urban residents’ life in countries like China.

This blog was published as a guest column in the China Daily on the 14th of January 2013.

The warnings come as the London Fire Brigade unveiled plans to close 12 fire stations across the capital to save £45million in the next two years.

Shutting Westminster fire station in Greycoat Place, Pimlico, will put extra strain on remaining Westminster stations in Harrow Road, Paddington, and Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho, say critics.

In addition Belsize fire station, which is called upon as back-up for larger incidents in north Westminster, is also slated for closure under plans that will see 18 fire engines and around 400 firefighter jobs slashed from the brigade. Euston and West Hampstead stations, which also provide support, are not on the closure list, which will go out for public consultation before a final decision is made by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority in June. A three-month target has been set for the changes to come into effect.

Paul Embery, London secretary of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), said: “These proposed cuts are dangerous and wrong. If they are implemented, they will undoubtedly jeopardise the safety of Londoners and firefighters alike.

“The London Fire Brigade now faces perhaps the biggest threat to its ability to function since the Second World War.”

The borough’s firefighters last year attended more than 5,200 false alarms ““ greater than anywhere else in the capital ““ more than 1,000 fires and more than 1,800 other incidents, making it one of the most testing boroughs in London.

Yet the brigade argues its proposals will not endanger lives. It says the average response time for the first engine to arrive at any fire in Westminster will rise by 42 seconds to 5m 50s, still within its six-minute target. Nearly 30 seconds will be added to the average time it takes a second engine to arrive, but it remains within the brigade’s eight minutes target.

But Mr Embury added: “Anyone who knows anything about firefighting knows that it isn’t just about the speed of response; the weight of response ““ ensuring that you have adequate resources to deal with developing and large-scale incidents ““ is just as crucial.

“These cuts would deplete the service and impair its ability to respond quickly and effectively to serious incidents.”

Murad Qureshi, a Labour Londonwide member of the London Assembly, called the cuts “reckless”.

The proposals come in light of a fall in the number of incidents over the last 10 years. In 2011, Westminster station firefighters answered 655 fewer calls than they did in 2001, a fall of 32 per cent. But Paddington station answered 2,124 fewer calls, a drop of 48 per cent, yet it remains off the closure list as the priority is keeping response times within target.

Ron Dobson, London Fire Brigade commissioner, said “significant changes” were needed to meet the money-saving targets. He said: “Having spent 33 years as a firefighter serving the capital I know how important it is to respond to incidents as quickly as possible and I have every intention of maintaining our current response time targets for first and second fire engines.

“With all the work we do to prevent fires happening, and response times that are still amongst the best in the country, I am confident these savings can be made while keeping London safe.”

Click here to view full article

Westminster Fire Station earmarked for closure

Today, we learned that Boris Johnson will close 12 fire stations across London. The list of closures was revealed by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). The stations are spread across London and include Westminster fire station in SW1 as well as Knightsbridge fire station in SW3.  The London Fire Brigade’s budget will be cut by the Mayor and government by £45 million over the next two years. Even after the 12 stations, 18 fire appliances and 520 fire-fighters have been cut, the Mayor and LFEPA will still have to find over £5 million of cuts.  On average it costs £1.4 million to run a one fire engine station.

The fire stations listed for closure are:

• Belsize in Camden
• Bow in Tower Hamlets
• Clapham in Lambeth
• Clerkenwell in Islington
• Downham in Lewisham
• Kingsland in Hackney
• Knightsbridge in Kensington & Chelsea
• New Cross in Lewisham
• Silvertown in Newham
• Southwark
• Westminster
• Woolwich in Greenwich

In addition the following stations will lose one of their two fire engines: Chelsea, Chingford, Hayes, Leyton, Leytonstone, Peckham and Whitechapel.

London’s fire brigade is facing a crisis, today we found out we will lose Westminster and Knightsbridge fire stations, as well as the closure of a further 10 fire stations across the whole of London, 18 fire engines and 520 fire-fighters. This will undoubdedly reduce fire cover in London, putting the safety and security of Londoners at risk.   The London Fire Brigade and their dedicated staff do a fantastic job keeping us safe and helping us when we need it most. These cuts are hitting front-line services and putting public safety at risk.

The new analysis shows that compared to 2010 many boroughs will lose significant numbers of police officers, including:

<city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> losing 202 police officers

Kensington & Chelsea losing 50 police officers

Hammersmith & Fulham losing 32 police officers

<city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Camden</place></city> losing 111 police officers

The Mayor’s Draft Policing Plan also details how the current locally based Safer Neighbourhood Teams will have less dedicated resources. Each SNT currently has three PCSOs, two PCs and one sergeant. The new model will see each SNT having only one dedicated PC and a “named sergeant”. This is a move back to Sector-based policing, a model that was abandoned in the late 1990s as it was deemed to be ineffective and led to the police having poor relations on a local level.

Londonwide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:

"This plan confirms our worst fears. We already know that <city w:st=”on”>London</city> has lost over 2,000 police officers in the last two years, but this plan confirms that the majority of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s boroughs will have fewer police officers than in 2010. Combined with the closure of 65 police front counters and the loss of nearly half of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s PCSOs, this will lead to a smaller police presence on our streets. The government and mayor are cutting too far and too fast, they are hitting the frontline. 

"In <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> we will lose 202 police officers with 50 fewer in Kensington & Chelsea than in 2010, and that’s if the Mayor can actually deliver on his proposals which I don’t think he can. 

Wood and Marylebone Station police stations in our borough, this will make it harder for local people to report serious crimes and reduce the police’s presence."

“To make matters worse this proposed plan details how the Mayor will strip out our local Safer Neighbourhood Teams which are vital in fighting crime in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>. SNTs build local knowledge and get to know their patch, the proposals today look very much like a return to the old model of sector policing which does not have this strong local link. The Mayor’s plans will also see a loss of many experienced senior officers, which raises obvious concerns about the supervision of police constables.

“We doubt the mayor can keep his election promises, as HMIC reported last week police visibility is down and this trend will continue. Contrary to what they say, this is further evidence that the Mayor and Government are cutting too far too fast."

Notes

1.      Murad Qureshi is a Labour Londonwide Assembly Member.

2.      Attached is the analysis of Police Officer and PCSO strength for <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s 32 boroughs for 2010 compared to toady’s announcement:

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3.      Also attached is the Mayor’s Draft Police and Crime Plan:

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4.      The HMIC Report which can be found here http://www.hmic.gov.uk/data/valuing-the-police-data/ (first link under "2012", "Average percentage of police officers and PCSOs visible and available to the public 2010 and 2012").

5.   Draft MOPAC/MPS Estate Strategy 2013/2016 can be viewed here:  http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Draft%20MOPAC%20MPS%20Estate%20Strategy%202013-2016.pdf  (see page 38 for list of station/front counter closures.

The Mayor’s GLA Budget includes the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade and Transport for <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>. The figures revealed last week will take effect from April. <city w:st=”on”>London</city>’s emergency services are facing steep cuts and frontline services in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> will be hit hard:

·         The London Fire Brigade is likely facing the loss of over 20 stations including potentially Westminster fire station, 30 fire engines and hundreds of fire-fighters in light of £40million of further cuts it must make this year and next year

·         The Metropolitan Police have lost 2,208 police officers across <city w:st=”on”>London</city> and 247 police officers in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> since May 2010. With a proposed £75.8million reduction in the Police Officer wage bill next year, this number could reduce even further.

The Mayor has raised transport fares in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> above inflation for the fifth year running. As Chair of Transport for <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>, Boris Johnson is responsible for setting fare levels for the capital.

Londonwide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:”Wages for the majority of workers are barely rising and Londoners are really struggling more then elsewhere in the <place w:st=”on”><country-region w:st=”on”>UK</country-region></place>. It is scandalous that Boris has not used his power to curb fare rises, and an insult to hard-working Londoners that he’s claiming credit for saving households 7 pence a week.

“If he’s not there to stand up for Londoners in tough times, then what exactly is he there for? In the past two years TfL have collected £251million more than they were expecting in fares. Last year Londoners paid an average of £782 a year on public transport. It is ludicrous for the Mayor to claim he can’t help Londoners.

“<city w:st=”on”>London</city>’s emergency services still face steep cuts and we’ve seen 247 police officers in <city w:st=”on”>Westminster</city> lost since May 2010, as well as the potential closure of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>Westminster</place></city> fire station. With deeper spending cuts on the way from central government, it is time Boris put <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> before his own ambitions.”

Ends

Notes

1.      Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Assembly Member.

2.   In May 2010 there were 33,147 Police Officers in <place w:st=”on”><city w:st=”on”>London</city></place>, in the last month for which figures are available (November 2012) there were 30,939.

3.   Boris Johnson speaking on the London Mayoral debate programme aired on BBC television on 22 April 2012 said that fares would “go down in an honest and sustainable way”.

4. TfL fare surpluses can be found on page 13 of the December 2012 London Assembly Budget Committee’s pre Budget report: www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/PBR%202012%20-%20FINAL.pdf

EDL marches will continue to blight local communities

In light of past experiences of English Defence League marches and the recent ban, I, together with my BME colleagues in the Labour Group at the London Assembly wrote to the Met Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe urging him to revise the Met’s view about the status of the EDL.  Back in September 2009, Sir Paul Stephenson told the MPA that the EDL “are not viewed as an extreme right wing group in the accepted sense”.  Last year, it was reported that Adrian Tudway, head of the national domestic extremism unit at Scotland Yard, stated in an email to a Muslim organisation that “in terms of the position with EDL, the original stance stands, they are not extreme right wing as a group” adding “I really think you need to open a direct line of dialogue with them, that might be the best way to engage them and re-direct their activity”.  These sentiments are not only patronising to London’s Muslim community, they are wholly inconsistent with the EDL’s recent actions and the reaction by the local community to their presence.  In our letter to the Commissioner, we asked him to consider the following……
 
“The recent arrests by the Met Police and the request to ban the march…. were both based upon intelligence led investigation; it is clear, therefore, that the perception of the EDL as a non right wing organisation is misconceived.  This misconception should be put right, and we hope that recent actions by the Met police and the Home Secretary should pave a way forward to restating the Met’s views on the EDL.    We believe this is the time to draw a line in the sand from past statements made by or on behalf of the Met on this subject and we seek your reassurance that such statements will not be made under your watch in the future”

The response by the Commissioner is understandable, but nontheless disappointing.  As a non-proscribed group, then the EDL appear to escape the full glare of the Met, but isn’t it time we stopped worrying so much about their classication and more about the affect this group  has on local community cohesion?

Levers in the Edgware Road signal box dating back to 1925

 It is right and proper that we celebrate the public transport heritage of London this year for the 150th anniversary of the opening of the metropolitan line between Paddington and Farringdon on the 24th of May 1862. But why has the oldest part of the tube been neglected during the line upgrades being undertaken by London Underground both within the PPP and now that is has been brought in house?

Take for example, the state of disrepair on Platform 5 in Baker Street tube station were coincidentally we have billboards attesting to the history of the line and as a result drawing many tourists. Water penetration can be regularly seen cascading down from the Marylebone Road above the platforms and is clearly causing damage internally to the station.  This will have not escaped the notice of the many passengers of the tube of that alight and make their changes in the network at this point. Indeed l have seen Japanese & Korean tourist being very amused by the state of it all! I think the joke is that it would never be allowed to get to this state in their respective capital cities of Tokyo and Seoul subway systems. Indeed it does raise health and safety concerns which l have always assume TfL senior management are comfortable is being managed. 

Then we have of course the signal box at Edgware Road. This section of the underground is home to a signal box dating back to 1920’s and still uses levers to get trains through the station! The rightful place for this piece of equipment is in a museum and not as a mechanism on a very busy part of one the busiest networks in the world. The equipment is several decades older then some of the younger lines like the Victoria lines yet their signals get replaced before these ancient relics of a bye-gone age.

More recently Edgware Rd tube station has drawn the attention of an editorial in the Guardian newspaper because of the poor performance of the Circle line there. It suggests it should not be called the Circle line anymore as it appears not to go west bound or anti-clockwise from those platforms. I have suggested its down to the old signal box and till it gets replaced the line should be renamed the lasso line, as it now makes the dash to Hammersmith as well. 

My concern is simply that the oldest part of the tube has been neglected during the line upgrades while works on the much newer lines like the Victoria line opened in 1970 and of course the Jubilee line extension have had alot more attention by London Underground. Surely inventory checks of all the stations would have picked up the conditions of the tracks, signals and platforms on this historic part of the tube system.

Rumour has it that its deliberately kept this way, to draw funding by TfL from Department of Transport for other parts of the tube system. Whether that’s true or not it is time now that the oldest part of the tube gets the signal box changed and platform improvements it deserves to operate in the twenty first century for its many users in central London and further a field. 

So in short, l do not think the metropolitan line’s as it approaches its 150 year of existence is getting the respect it deserves as has lagged behind Victoria, Jubilee & Northern lines for upgrade works. Getting signal upgrades and platforms works completed at critical points would be the best birthday present TfL can give the Met line, ahead of any transport heritage celebrations.

Also published in this week’s Forum in the West End Extra.